Blogs
Last weekend, Richard and I took a wonderful trip down to LA. And like we usually do, we incorporated chocolate into the trip in a variety of ways. First of all, we brought chocolate to share with our friends and family. (Everyone’s favorite was the Venezuela from John Nanci’s beans !)
One of the other ways we incorporated chocolate into our trip was by visiting local phenomenon, Guelaguetza Restaurante. This is the most authentically Oaxacan spot I’ve experienced since spending a summer in Oaxaca, Mexico itself. They serve tlayudas, mole, and mezcal, among other southern Mexican delicacies.
Learn more here: http://rootchocolate.com/2015/01/22/guelaguetza-in-la/
I tasted amazing new stuff in 2014!
My favourite new-coming chocolate makers:
- Pump Street Bakery (especially: Grenada 70% and Ecuador 75%)
- It’s Chocolate (especially: Chuao and Belize). New name: Brasstown Chocolate.
- Cacao Hunters (everything!)
Other new ones that I like: Metiisto, Doble & Bignall, Erithaj, Solstice and Cacaosuyo.
New bars from existing chocolate makers that are really awesome:
- Idilio: Trinchera 74%
- Soma: La Dalia, Blend 82%, Peru Nacional, Little Big Man, Dancing in your head, Old School Nicaragua
- Tibor Szántó: Carenero Superior, Ben Tre, Ambolikapiky, Cuba
- Bar au Chocolat: Maranon
- Marou: Dak Lak
- French Broad: Matagalpa
- Ritual: Belize and Maranon
My most memorable experience was the production of the new Original Beans bars at Felchlin in July. I will never forget that. It was very exciting to create new recipes together with Felchlin and the Original Beans team. I’m so happy with the results! And I heard I’m not the only one 
May I say that these bars are my 2014’s favourites? Or will I be disqualified? Although it’s not weird to be in love with your own babies, right? 
Other chocolate highlights:
- Chocoa Trade Fair and Festival, March in Amsterdam
- Origin Chocolate Event, October in Amsterdam
What will happen in 2015? I’m looking forward to:
- The bean (or tree?) -to-bars by Alexandre!
- The start of a Chocolate Academy in The Netherlands!
- Chocoa Trade Fair, Conferences and Festival 5-9th March in Amsterdam. Be there!
- Georg Bernardini’s new chocolate book September 2015
- And maybe some gorgeous new Original Beans products?
Wish you all a delicious new chocolate year!
Georg's current book "Der Schokoladentester" (The Chocolate Tester) appeared in
2012. This book contains more than 700 pages with reviews and information about
chocolate. He won a Gourmand Award for best chocolate book in the world!
Now he is working on a new version (also in English!) that will be even better!
550 brands from 70 countries with almost 5.000 product reviews!
(I think he eats more chocolate at the moment than I do).
And many, many other informations will give a huge overview about chocolate and
chocolate market.
Support him and make reservations for the book:
https://www.startnext.de/derschokoladentester
https://twitter.com/GBernardini
This weekend we took our cocoa bean roasting to the next level: we christened our newest tool, the Behmor 1600 Plus ! And already, were very happy with the investment. Thanks Dave Huston & John Nanci for recommending it!
This is the most technologically advanced piece of equipment we own for chocolate. And it comes with TWO instruction manuals, both of which Ive read cover to cover multiple times and referred to throughout our first roast.
Learn more about how it's done here:
http://rootchocolate.com/2014/12/15/roasting-with-the-behmor-1600-plus/
Last weekend, we were thankful to have Richards parents in town to celebrate Thanksgiving. For the occasion, we hosted a true blind chocolate tasting adventure. We pulled out Eagranie Yuhs The Chocolate Tasting Kit (Tasting Kits) 
We tasted 13 chocolate bars (avoiding any flavored chocolate) and surprisingly, there were no truly clear winners. We are amazed by the variation of tastes and preferences among us!
Learn more about our verdicts here:
http://rootchocolate.com/2014/12/11/thanksgiving_chocolate_tasting/
Occasionally, while I sit at a Vietnameserestaurant, cautiously eating my standard Pho, I cant help giggle to myself as Richard sweats and guzzles water to counteract the powerful sensations coming from hisinevitably extra spicy dish. Similarly, I pass on the japapeosin Mexicancuisine and the Sriracha at Thai places. A coworkers kid only eats food that is white and my cousins, while growing up, ate solely Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, with hot dogs.
Youmay laugh and say that people who refrain from eating delicacies like spicy Pho, caviar, or kimchi have unsophisticated palettes. Wemust not know or understand the intricacies of such delicious foods.Richard maysay thatmy Vietnamese food is bland and that Im not gaining the full experience of these cuisines.
I would respond that I like what I like. My taste buds have their own preferences and theres not too much I can do about that. Im not being stubborn on purpose; Im sure you can identify withme in having a particular taste for something that may be considered unpopular.
So, what does this have to do with chocolate?
To cocoa butter or not to cocoa butter?
That is the question...
We did an experiment to provide an answer to thistime old question (ok, sure, were borrowing from Shakespeare). For this experiment, we used our favorite Madagascar beans. I think were now about halfway done with the giant bucket!
Lets post some hypotheses about the two batches...
Read more here:
Last month, we visited John Nanci, the Chocolate Alchemist in Oregon . It was a lot of fun and we learned a ton about his process, ingredients, and recommendations!
One of our favorite parts of the visit was roasting a batch of cocoa beans with him. Check out our previous postson roasting here . We picked out thebeans after sticking our heads in all of his big barrels of beans and smelling the wonderful scent of raw beans over and over again. I wish I could share smell through this post, because its incredible how different (and delicious) each barrel smells. We decided on the Venezuelan Carupano Corona, 2014 harvest, which has a savory, almost spicy scent...
Learn how we tried to match the roast!
What is the absolute first step in making chocolate? Sorting! See if I made sorting more exciting than it seems!
This step in making chocolate does not usually get a lot of attention. Perhaps thats because its such a tedious, manual process in most cases. Perhaps its because until recently, it seemed uncontroversial.
Well, let me try to make this topic as exciting as possible for our readers. I promise itll involve threat of violence, betrayed trust, and the potential for incredible flavor variety Here we go!
http://rootchocolate.com/2014/12/01/sorting_chocolate_beans/